Fares harmonised for duration of Ullapool upgrade work

Transport Scotland have decided to harmonise fares on the temporary Stornoway-Uig crossing with the Tarbert-Uig route for the duration of the upgrade work at Ullapool harbour.

Fares harmonised for duration of Ullapool upgrade work

Transport Scotland have decided to harmonise fares on the temporary Stornoway-Uig crossing with the Tarbert-Uig route for the duration of the upgrade work at Ullapool harbour.

Ferry operator CalMac made the announcement as the countdown to the temporary diversion begins. Ullapool will close to vehicular traffic for a period of four weeks from Monday, April 20 to allow an upgrade to the port's linkspan.

"The introduction of a double linkspan at Ullapool will significantly increase the port's resilience by opening it up to a much greater range of vessels than it can currently deal with. It will also improve reliability over the long term by shortening loading and unloading times," said Operations Director at CalMac, Drew Collier.

The fares are being harmonised for the duration of the work to avoid any potential bottlenecks at Tarbert.

"Transport Scotland has decided to equalise the fares between Stornoway and Uig and Tarbert and Uig to help manage traffic volumes on the route more effectively. The fare from Stornoway to Ullapool is higher than Tarbert-Uig. We are keen to avoid unnecessary congestion at Tarbert during this short period as some travellers may have opted for the cheaper route if prices had been kept at the existing Stornoway Ullapool level," said Mr Collier.

The revised sailing schedule for the duration of the upgrade work will be

Up to two daily return sailings from Stornoway to Uig for passengers and vehicles.

One daily return sailing from Stornoway to Uig for freight.

Two daily return sailings from Stornoway to Ullapool for foot passengers only.

"This temporary diversion will cause some inconvenience for which we apologise in advance, but the upgrade will improve the quality of the service we can offer from Ullapool over the long-term," he added.

The improvement work is being funded by the Ullapool Harbour Trust and Transport Scotland.